The Second Amendment
by sas.nimmo
Summary: For years, D.E.B.S. (a secret government agency which recruits agents based on their ability to lie, cheat, and fight) has been recruiting agents from elite gymnastic academies. One of those academies is VGA. Their newest recruit: gymnastic wild child Haley Graham. When she's given her first assignment, tailing notorious supervillain Lucy Diamond, things get complicated.
1. Chapter 1

**Some author's notes:**

-This supposes a couple of things: 1) That D.E.B.S. and Stick It both happened at the same time, meaning while Amy and the team were being recruited, Haley was walking out on Worlds, and while she was returning to gymnastics, the team were facing Lucy Diamond. This then takes place after both Endgame and Nationals. 2) That the D.E.B.S. Academy is somewhere around Austin, Texas. (The film never mentions where it is).

-This idea basically came to me because like... Missy Peregrym in a D.E.B.S. uniform is all I need from my life.

-This is cross-posted on AO3.

I hope you guys enjoy it.

* * *

Mr Phipps's voice rang out across the landing of the house, "Good morning ladies! Up and at 'em. We need you at the Academy by 0800 hours. Do you hear me, D.E.B.S.? Up, up, up! Go! Go! Go!"

As usual, Max was the first one out of her room. Being upperclassmen, and sharing the role of squad captain with Amy, she always felt it was necessary to show some leadership in the morning. She saw that Amy's door was already ajar, and pushed it open with her toe, peeking around it.

"Downstairs in ten, Amy."

The blonde was pulling her hair into a ponytail, already dressed. She nodded at her reflection. Max turned on her heel, walked across the landing and opened Dominique's door.

"Dominique, get up, we have to get to the Academy. And if I have to tell you about bringing boys upstairs again, I swear…"

Dominique simply rolled over, sighed in her heavy French accent and slapped the lump of blankets beside her. "Out!"

Janet, proudly wearing her new stripes on her crisp white shirt, rushed out of her own room, almost knocking Max over. Max forced a smile on to her face. Despite being somewhat dim, Janet had earned her place on the team.

"Downstairs in five, Janet."

"Right," came the reply, accompanied by a clumsy smile.

Max quickly ducked into her own room, grabbing her rucksack, holstering her gun, and just catching the long-haired boy sheepishly leaving Dominique's room to scarper down the stairs and out the door. With the team ready, they piled into Max's navy Beetle, and made their way to the D.E.B.S. Academy.

Mr Phipps was waiting at the usual booth. As they slid in, he held up his hand to inform them, "no food today ladies. This meeting will be quick. Also, Ms Petrie will be joining us."

Janet couldn't control the gasp that escaped her. Despite everything that happened before and after Endgame last year, and the amount of time the team had subsequently dealt with Ms Petrie because of it, dealing with the head of the organisation was still a big deal. No sooner had Mr Phipps announced her coming then she was standing in front of them, blue bars still scanning up and down her thin frame.

"Good morning, D.E.B.S."

"Good morning, Ms Petrie," the four agents chorused.

"I know you'll be eager to know why you're here. So let's get down to it." Janet looked as if she was about to pass out as Ms Petrie slid herself into the booth beside her. The head of the agency opened her arms to her second-in-command, "Mr Phipps."

Phipps pushed a button on the device in his hand, and blue screens spread out across the space in front of the booth. A mug-shot of a tanned girl in a Ramones t-shirt filled the right side, credentials and figures filled the left. Small windows are filled with looped videos of gymnastics competitions.

"Ladies, this is Haley Graham. She's just turned eighteen, been to Worlds twice, is nationally ranked, and is often looked on as one of the most undeniable natural talents in gymnastics today. She got her GED at fifteen and aced her PSATs. She also has an impressive twelve juvenile arrests under her belt—B & E, trespassing, vandalism, destruction of both public and private property, and one drunk and disorderly! She is also the second person to ever get a perfect score"

Amy raised her eyebrows at the rest of the team. Quirking her head to the side, she asked, "if she's got such a big record, why are we recruiting her? I mean, I know none of us are perfect, but that seems like a hefty rap sheet."

"This girl's individual scores are enough to have a biting her hand off. The fact that she has some misdemeanours on her record won't put us off. This is not some super-villain-in-training, we all know that. This rap sheet reads more like a bored kid trying to rebel. In fact, her record may help us. She knows how to get into certain situations. She's not afraid of a little danger. We like that in an agent. Burt says he thinks—"

"Burt?" Max interrupted. Considering this is high priority and top-level, she's surprised to hear a name she finds so unfamiliar.

"Burt Vickerman. As you ladies know, D.E.B.S. has a long history of using elite gymnastics schools to recruit new agents. These schools are centres where there is a culture of militant rule-following, but also one where students are kept at pique physical condition. Through our secret testing, we have been able to identify candidates which suit the D.E.B.S. criteria for agents, and recruit them. It allows us to fast-track them through the first section of Academy training, and achieve upperclassmen status sooner. Burt Vickerman runs VGA, the Vickerman Gymnastics Academy. He has been a friend of the programme for many years. Unfortunately, he went through a… difficult period in which very few of his students were deemed suitable. Now, however, they are reaching an all-time high in the physical categories and scoring ever higher in the individual thought category. Burt reckons this is down to Haley's return to the gymnastics world, and his gym in particular."

"So, why are we here? Field agents don't normally have a say in the recruitment." Amy looked at her mentor, chewing her lip anxiously. She could feel the weight of the responsibility of being D.E.B.S.'s poster child bearing down on her already.

"Well, being such a free spirit, and someone with an aptitude so high, I felt her best placement for training would be with our best team. Putting two perfect scores together seems like the only logical conclusion."

"With us? We never train new recruits," Max couldn't seem to manage to swing her mouth shut, shock evident on her face, "we have bigger fish to fry, bigger things to deal with."

"I understand that. And that is exactly why I'm putting Haley on this team."

Ms Petrie sat looking at her best team. Amy, who had so very nearly been lost not six months ago, was pushing a smile through what was obviously doubt and confusion. Dominique, looking as though if she understood a single word of the conversation which had just transpired she did not care, was inspecting her nails. Janet stood, feet together, hands knotted in front of her, a lost look on her face. Max was standing behind her best friend, looking defiant as ever, and trying not to scan the credentials which were being displayed on the monitors before them them.

"The gymnast recruitment is also handled slightly… differently than our normal agent recruitment. We like to go and meet the girls personally, explain the programme, explain what we do, and how they'll be fast-tracked. It's important that they realise how crucial the work of a D.E.B. is. That being said, Amy and Max, I want you to come with me to ask Haley to join us. Burt has nothing but good things to say about her, but some of those good things do not fill me with confidence that it will be easy to get her to drop her life to come with us. I have a copy of Ms Graham's dossier for each of you, I expect you to be fully familiar with her by the time we leave for VGA tomorrow morning—" The tail-end of the sentence hung in the air as she pushed out of the booth and pushed the button on her wristwatch, beaming herself out of the Academy cafe.

Mr Phipps looked thoughtfully at Max and Amy before handing over the dossiers. "A perfect score hand-picked by Ms Petrie. She could change the face of the agency, ladies." Then he stood up and walked to his office at the end of the corridor.

The two friends looked at each. Amy raised her eyebrow, "Haley Graham, huh?"

Max scoffed, "whatever. Let's eat."

* * *

When Max goes into Amy's room later that evening, she finds the blonde pouring over the dossier.

"She walked out of the World Championships before her floor event. She lost the USA their chance at gold. Then a year later, she came back. That's pretty admirable."

Curling herself into a chair beside the window, Max picked up her copy of the dossier. The folder is thick and heavy. Max scanned through the details of Haley's return to gymnastics.

"Uh, it says here she went to VGA instead of going to juvy?"

"Still. She didn't have to compete. And she did. Which is pretty cool."

Max rolled her eyes when she opened it on the picture of the gymnast. Strong jawline, long dark hair, brown eyes. Amy was nothing if not predictable.

"Have you seriously got a crush on this girl already?"

"What? No. I mean, I just think her scores are pretty impressive. And her gymnastics career is definitely nothing to be sniffed at. That shows determination if not sheer force of will. Elite gymnastics is hell. Have you seen some of the stuff they can do? Seriously Max, take a look at this girl's scores. She scored in the top five percentile in logistic reasoning. And she's had basic firearms training since she was fourteen because she's from a Texas God-and-Country-NRA family, at least on her mother's side. Don't shut her down just because she's cute."

"So you do think she's cute?" Max looked up and smiled, thumbing through to Haley's scores. She's just about to take her best friend's advice when a pillow hit her in the side of the head.

Max spent another hour or so looking over Haley's file—and okay, she'll admit it, her numbers are impressive.

"I'm beat. I'm going to bed. Ms Petrie said we're leaving at eight; it's at least an hour's drive to VGA. See you downstairs to go for a run at seven?"

"You know, I think I'll skip tomorrow. Sorry. Maybe Janet will go with you?"

"Sure. Don't stay up too late."

* * *

Amy spent the next three hours watching Youtube videos of Haley, and told herself it's purely for the purpose of getting educated on the new recruit. Amy knows very little about gymnastics, their team has never had to deal with new recruits from any of the gymnastics schools. At any rate, once the gymnasts joined D.E.B.S., their training became a secondary concern to their cases. Watching Haley's routines was captivating though; the power in her tricks was something that seemed to be lacking in her competitors, and even to Amy's untrained eye, it was easy to see the natural flair that everyone talked about.


	2. Chapter 2

Looking over the centre console at the two agents in the back seat of the black SUV, Ms Petrie mused, "Perhaps it would be better if I were to explain the D.E.B.S. initiative, and its ties with the gymnastics community, to Ms Graham. If she responds well, you can offer her the opportunity to join us, as a part of your team—after she completes the required training. If she doesn't respond positively, I will explain to her that we are looking for recruits with great potential and that we feel she could be of great service to her country working with the agency. I don't think it will be necessary to mention her perfect score, that will only add pressure to the situation. How does that sound?"

"I think that sounds like the best option," confirmed Amy. Max simply nodded noncommittally.

* * *

"Girls! Girls? Has anyone seen Haley?" Burt's voice rang out across the wide gym floor.

"Uh, I think she was out by the front gate again." Wei Wei called from her position at the end of the beam. Mina pulled a face as Burt passes them, swearing under his breath.

"Haley! Haley!" From back at the building, Burt could see Joanne's arms and legs flail as she tried, and failed, to stay perched on the steel fence that borders the grounds of the gym.

"Vick! I've totally been trying to get her to come back into the gym," she squeaked as she jumps to her feet, brushing red dust off of her pink and white leotard.

"Okay, Joanne. Haley!"

Haley was too busy hurling herself and her bike toward the six-set of steps just outside of the gates to notice Burt's calls. Poot was standing half-way down the set, while Frank was at the bottom, both poised and waiting to take aerial shots of the 360 hop. She laughed as she landed; both boys jumped to be the first to high-five her.

"Dude, so delish."

"Check out the shot I got, you look so badass."

"I got one, like, right under you."

Burt pushed past the boys before Poot gets a chance to show his picture. "Poot, Frank, always a pleasure. Nice to see you. Goodbye." He turned to face the gymnast, "Haley, what have I told you? I can't have you breaking your leg doing some kicking-flip-thing on that death trap. Come on!"

Frank and Poot shared a glance, barely holding in their laughter. "Jeez, chill Vicky."

"Vick—who told… Haley!"

Haley lifted her head, squinting in the morning sun at her trainer. "Inside," Burt clicked his fingers in the direction of the main gym, "there's someone here to see you."

Haley jumped off her bike, saying goodbye to the boys with their customary handshake. "Bye-yuh."

"Later, Cracker."

* * *

Haley stopped outside Burt's office, rounding on him and raising an eyebrow. "So, who is it? Another college scout? I like to be prepared."

"Just get inside, Hale."

"Oh, come on Vick, tell me." Burt angled himself around her and reached for the handle of the door. "It's just easier to let them explain."

Inside, a woman who has well passed middle-age sat in Burt's desk chair. On the other side, two girls around Haley's age stood leaning on the edge of the desk. Haley took a moment to take in their outfits—white shirts, plaid skirts and ties, white stockings, one in pumps and the other in combat boots. Haley shoved her hands in her pockets and rocked herself back on her heels.

"Soooo," she raised her eyebrow at her coach, "not from UCLA then?"

All three faces stared back at her, and she quickly pulled the smirk off her face, "Oh-kay. Tough crowd."

Haley rocked herself forward and walked slowly to one of the chairs, and dropping herself down into it, turned around to face the two teenagers. "What are you, like, bodyguards or something?"

A look passed between the pair before the blonde remarked, "Or something."

"Ms Graham," the older lady in the tailored suit joined her hands and laid her forearms on the desk, "my name is Ms Petrie. I'm—we are from D.E.B.S."

Haley whipped around in her chair, her eyes narrowed at Burt. "Debutantes!? Are you kidding me, Burt?"

Burt pushed himself away from the wall he was leaning against, coming to a halt behind Haley and squeezing her shoulders. "Haley, just shut the hell up and listen, will ya?" The only response he received was a scoff and a gratuitous eye-roll.

"Haley, what I'm about to tell you is classified information. You are under an obligation to keep this conversation to yourself. Telling anyone, and I do mean anyone, is a felony akin to treason. Do you understand?"

"What you just said? Yes. Why I'm being given classified information? Nope."

"Yes, well, I will get to that, as soon as you assure me that what is said in this office will not be repeated outside of these walls."

"Sure, whatever."

"Haley, D.E.B.S. is a government agency which recruits young women who have a natural ability to lie, cheat, and fight. We hide a secret test within the SATs which measures this ability. When we deem girls eligible, they are brought to the Academy and trained in espionage. These two young ladies here, are Amy Bradshaw," the blonde nodded, "and Max Brewster," the dark-haired girl nodded, "and they are two of our best agents." Ms Petrie's eyes searched Haley's face for some sense of understanding, or interest. However, Haley's face was almost blank, save for the slight arch in her eyebrow. Ms Petrie looked at Amy, wondering if this speech was coming across as stilted as it felt leaving her mouth. Amy smiled shyly in response, encouraging her Director to continue.

"For many years, D.E.B.S. has used elite gymnastics academies to recruit young women who show extreme promise. Once they've taken their SATs, we look at their track record in the gymnastics world, and we evaluate whether or not they would be a valuable asset to the agency. As you're already in peak physical condition, and undertake a regimented fitness schedule, you would be entered into an accelerated training programme which is specially designed to this type of recruitment."

"Wait, hold up. You're saying you want me… to leave VGA… to become a spy?" Haley's eyes were wide, disbelief written all over her face. "That is absolutely ridiculous. You realise this, right?" She rounded on Burt again, "if this is your idea of a joke, your sense of humour is truly going in your old age, Vicky."

"Kim Probable, will you zip it?" He walked around to the front of her chair, and hunkered down in front of her, "Hale, everything Ms Petrie is saying, it's true. I know, I know it sounds absurd, but can you just trust me?"

"Spies? Espionage? A secret test in the SATs? Burt, this is like something out of a cheesy early-noughties movie."

Burt swiveled around to face Ms Petrie, holding his hands up in apparent defeat.

"Haley, you show great promise. Your test scores are impressive to say the least, not to mention the waves you've made in the gymnastics world since your return. We feel you could be an invaluable addition to our team."

"Little ol' me? What about that business of my criminal record? How can I be a cop, or a spy or whatever, with that?"

"Ah, yes. At D.E.B.S., things like that actually stand to you. We are looking for young women who excel at lying, cheating, and fighting, after all. We believe it will help you integrate better into undercover situations, where you may have to interact with criminals—some low-level petty thieves, or internationally wanted terrorists. Of course, if you choose to join us, we have the power to make that record, I guess you could say, disappear."

Haley sat chewing her lip, silent. Amy took the lull in the conversation as an opportunity to jump in. "Look, I know it sounds insane. Most girls at the Academy had to see it to believe it, but it's true. What we do, it's important. We're an elite force of covert operations law-enforcers who handle big cases in terrorism and espionage. But it's more than that, you become part of a team, and that team becomes your family, they'll stick with you," the two agents shared a look that was heavy with unspoken words, "even when you don't deserve it. You have a lot of potential, Haley. You could use it to really serve your country."

Haley's eyes searched Burt's, begging him to help her, give her some advice.

"Ms Petrie, girls, can you give me a minute alone with Ms Graham?"

At this, Max seemed to lose her cool, taking two big steps toward them so that she stood looking down at Haley, arms crossed just beneath her chest. "Look. We want you. We don't need you. We recruit gymnasts because they're usually very good at taking orders. You don't seem to follow that blueprint. That means that Ms Petrie here thinks you'd be a good fit for our team. Me? I'm not about to let somebody piss all over what we do just because she can do a back flip—"

"A back flip? A back flip?" Haley pushed herself out of her seat, launching herself right at Max, hands poised and ready to choke her the hell out.

"Haley," Burt pinched the bridge of his nose, an action synonymous with Haley Graham, "you think running from the cops in Hicksville, Texas is exciting? Try giving what these girls do a shot. I think this could really be good for you, Hale. This is it, this is the reason I wanted you to stay here so bad."

"So, what do I do? Run around with a gun, stopping bad guys from taking over the world?"

Amy and Max looked at each other, and then back at Haley.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Basically."

Haley heaved out a sigh and rubbed the heels of her hands into her eyes. "And if I go, what? I just drop my training, kiss Nationals goodbye, pack up and leave my friends again, and start a new covert life? What about college? What about my friends? Christ, I'm just starting to get along with my Dad again."

"It would mean an end to your gymnastics career, at least your competitive career. You would have to come and live at the Academy, but we are only an hour away from VGA, so you could still see your friends and family. As far as they are to know, you will be attending a private college. You will be living at the D.E.B.S. house, which passes as a sorority house, so you can have visitors, but it is not encouraged. As far as college goes, this would be a career, we train and educate you, you wouldn't need to go to college." Ms Petrie's eyes softened. She realised how much she was asking this young girl to give up.

Haley continued to chew her lip, worrying at the sleeves of her hoody. Max, still standing over Haley's chair, eyed the gymnast. "I wouldn't worry too much about it, though. You might not even make it through the training."

Haley lifted her eyes, meeting Max's with a defiant look. She raised her eyebrows, before very purposefully turning towards Ms Petrie and declaring, "I'm in."

Max turned around, a smirk on her face and a twinkle in her eye. She had always been a good judge of character, and it seemed she had been right: nothing would light a fire under Haley Graham quite like a challenge.


	3. Chapter 3

Haley quickly learned that at D.E.B.S., they liked to hit the ground running. She started her training the next morning, woken up by Max and given her new D.E.B.S. uniform.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I am not wearing this."

"It's the uniform." Max's reply was curt, authoritative.

"Well, I'm not wearing it. Too bad. I'll train in my own clothes."

Max scoffed and rolled her eyes, already half-way out the door. "Whatever. Deal with Phipps. Be downstairs in ten minutes." As she was just exiting the room, Amy was coming towards it, a questioning look on her face. Max shrugged her shoulders in response and sighed, "won't wear the uniform."

* * *

Haley's first day consisted of the team trying to see what level she was at in several fields. First thing in the morning, she trained hand-to-hand combat with Max. If Haley had have been someone who was easily spooked, the look on Max's face when Mr Phipps told her to spar with Haley would have set her on edge. Haley Graham, however, didn't scare easily and wouldn't let the look on the face of some Totally Spy get to her, no matter how bloodthirsty it was.

At first, the two girls circled the mat, both on the balls of their feet. Haley had no real training in any form of fighting, but she had grown up with only boys for friends, and rough-housing happened. As they got older and started hanging around more and more questionable groups of people, fighting in earnest became a fact of life. So she pulled all that knowledge into the forefront of her mind. Keep on your toes, you'll be quicker. Stay low. Short burst attacks have proved effective in the past. Stay the hell away as much as possible until they start to tire. Predictably, Max started straight out on the offensive, diving low and aiming to sweep Haley's feet out from under her, but Haley quickly hopped over the swiping leg, and circled to Max's back. Almost instantly, Max was on her feet, throwing jabs at Haley's midsection; some landed, but Haley was able to block a few, throwing the strong fists out to the side. Haley bounded, on her toes, backwards, to get out of range of the blows. The fight soon turned into a game of Cat and Mouse, with Max chasing Haley around the mat, throwing angry punches and kicks in her direction. When she eventually looked like she was beginning to slow down, Haley took her chance, dodging in front of Max and grabbing hold of her extended arm. Then, in one swift motion, she spun around, pulling the arm over her shoulder, and dropped down on one knee with a thump. Max, with an undignified sound, flipped over Haley's hunched shoulders and landed on her back. She lay there for a moment, eyes closed and breathing heavily through her nose.

"Are you okay?" Dominique asked, walking over to look down at her squad co-captain.

Max's eyes snapped open and searched out Haley's.

"Dude, I'm sorry, that's just the only disarming move I know and it's pretty easy to apply." Haley walked around so she was standing at Max's side. She offered her hand, a bashful smile on her face. When Max made no sign of taking the proffered hand, Haley began to withdraw it, eyes trained on the stormy look on her new trainer's face. Suddenly, however, that look changed to one of resignation and Max sighed, "Nice job, rookie," and held out her hand to allow herself to be helped up.

Haley pulled the smaller girl up and turned to walk off the mat, toward her water bottle. She met Amy's eye and the co-captain smiled in a way that seemed exceedingly proud. "Well done, Haley. That was really great, especially for your first spar." Haley looked at her, all soft eyes and genuine smiles, and started to think that this might not be so bad.

* * *

Haley learned that the next three weeks would follow a similar pattern. Hand-to-hand with Max, tailing and interview techniques with Dominique, tactical analysis with Janet, and firearm training with Amy. Haley and Amy became friends quickly.

A week and a half in Haley began to feel the kind of satisfied-tired that she felt after a day of hard work on the bars. She felt the way she did after a few week in the old gym at VGA, getting back into the swing of training her old tricks. There was a sense of achievement in it that Haley loved, a sense of pride. One night, after she was finished training, she was sitting in the armory after a long day of training, cleaning her LSAT, when Amy walked in.

"Oh, hey. I thought I was the only one left down here." Haley looked up at her new friend, who had just sat down across from her. "Just thought I'd clean my new machine gun because it was a tough day of spy training, and oh my god what has my life become? That is not a normal thing to say to someone." Despite her apparent horror, she laughed lightly. Amy smiled in response.

"If it's any consolation, you're an absolute natural. Everything we've thrown at you and there's nothing that has seemed to phase you," she lifted her head to meet the chocolate pair of eyes facing her, "yet…"

"Rude. I have a gun, you know."

"An unloaded gun, yes, I can see that."

"I can still hit you with it." Haley raised her eyebrows in an effort to show that she was serious, but Amy only let out a soft chuckle in response.

"I'm serious, though. You are doing really well. We knew you had potential, I mean, come on, you're a perfect score, but I think you've surpassed everyone's expectations. Especially Max. She's starting to warm up to you, I think."

"Huh?" Haley paused what she was doing and raised her head fully, looking Amy squarely in the face. "What'd you say?"

"Oh, stop. She does get warmer. Max is great. She's my best friend."

"Not that. You called me a perfect score. What do you mean?"

"Oh, shoot." Despite herself, Haley smiled at Amy's unwillingness to swear. "I forgot that we hadn't explicitly mentioned your perfect score. Ms Petrie mentioned the secret test that they put in the SATs? Well, you got a perfect score on that secret test. So when we said you had a lot of potential, we kinda weren't kidding."

"But I bet people get them all the time, right?" Haley raised her eyebrows, hopeful.

"Uh, no. Not quite. There's only one other person who's ever gotten a perfect score." A blush crept up the pale skin of Amy's neck and spread itself across her smooth cheeks.

"Who?" Haley watched Amy carefully now. Her teammate had dropped her head, her hair forming a curtain in front of her features. She knew she was chewing her lip. When she lifted her head again, she looked somewhat cowed.

"Can we stop talking about this? Scores don't make the agent. It's just some stupid indicator. How hard you train and how much you throw yourself into the job is what matters!"

"Amy just tell me who it is. If it doesn't matter, then it shouldn't be a big deal."

Amy's voice came out as a tiny whisper. Haley strained her ears, but still failed to hear.

"Amy?"

"It was me, okay?" The way her voice cracked at the end of the statement made Haley recoil a little. She didn't understand why a stupid test was so upsetting. She picked up her newly clean gun, stood up, and returned it to its locker. She then returned to Amy's side and laid a hand on her shoulder, making her voice as soft as she could. "Hey, I'm sorry, okay? Let's not talk about it any more. I've never been very good at living up to my hype, so I'd much rather forget I have any promise at all. Cool with you?"

Amy looked up at Haley, into her warm brown eyes, and nodded. Haley smirked back. "Let's go get a milkshake. Today sucked and I need artificial strawberry flavouring to make up for it."

* * *

On the last Wednesday of her training, Haley returned to the house more exhausted than usual. The team seemed to be running her harder this week—especially Max. Not that Haley is surprised. She has trials to pass, and the team have invested a lot of time into her training; they want to make sure that she'll pass. She walked into her room and dumped her bags beside the door, ready to drop down on the bed and let her groaning muscles rest. However, when she turned around, she is met by the image of none other than Joanne Charis perched on the edge of her unmade bed, passively examining her nails. Joanne looked up like she was surprised to find Haley walking in. "Haley!"

"Joanne. What are you doing here?"

"I just came to visit my friend. Duh."

"Uh, right. And you're in my room, why?"

"Oh, ha ha." Joanne pulled her ponytail over her shoulder, running her fingers through it.

"So, how is it here? How are your... classes?"

Haley gave her a sidelong glance. There was something insincere in here tone. Haley knew she didn't care how her supposed classes were. Haley did not know what she actually wanted to know.

"They're super. Couldn't be better. Now, want to tell me why you're actually here?" Haley, realising that Joanne would be here for a while, decided to change out of her training gear and into the sweats she wore for lounging around the house. Changing in front of Joanne wasn't a problem, they had trained at the same gym, it was a day-to-day occurrence.

"Honestly, Haley. Give me some credit! We've been back training together for over a year. I miss having you around the gym."

"Yeah, like a hole in the head." Haley shot Joanne a stern look over her shoulder before pulling off her shirt.

"Plus," Joanne continued, returning her gaze to her nails, "I had to check out what your life was like as a spy."

Haley choked on air. "Wh—What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh, please, Haley. D.E.B.S., spy agency full of young ladies, plucking gymnasts from gyms for years and acting like nobody would notice? Gymnasts failing trials and pretending some 'non-disclosement' agreement would stop them telling girls they train with six hours a day, six days a week?"

"Joanne, really? Spies? That's a little far-fetched, even for you. And you still believe in the Tooth Fairy."

"I do—Poot showed me an article online that had some evidence that the Tooth Fairy was actually real."

"That was on The Onion, Jo'."

"Irregardless. D.E.B.S. is totally real. You can drop the act. It's obvious they picked you because your career in gymnastics was over. That and the violent tendencies." Haley looked pointedly at the small brunette, who was now standing and waving her arms animatedly. "My question is why are they waiting on picking me? I mean, I understand that I am a massive player in the gymnastics world and it would be a royal outrage to take from my adoring fans at the prime of my career, but I could be of serious, serious help to my country."

"Wait... You mean you're not a Russian sleeper agent? Dammit. I'll have to tell Phipps our intel was wrong." Joanne looked at Haley, mouth hanging open, obviously mid-word.

"Although, I should have known, if you were, you might actually be able to table in bars." Joanne replied with a scowl.

"Funny. Maybe they only take people of average intelligence. You know, in case they die. It wouldn't make sense to kill the smart ones."

"Yeah, Joanne. That's your problem. You're too smart." Haley had her back turned to the door and had just pulled on her sweatpants when Amy pushed the door open. Her entrance was interrupted by Haley continuing, "That's why they want me in spy-school, and not you."

Amy cleared her throat behind Haley, and Haley spun around just in time to catch Amy's eyes flick between Haley, standing there in her sweats and her bra, to Joanna, looking like a deer in headlights. A blush rose on Haley's cheeks and she quickly grabbed a clean shirt and pulled it over her head. "Um, Amy, this is Joanne. Joanne, this is Amy." Joanne squeaked out a "hello" and Amy forced a smile in response.

"Oh, shit. Our run. I totally forgot. I'm sorry Am'. Joanne kinda turned up unannounced and you all kicked my ass today—at the gym, I mean," Haley's eyes flitted between the two girls in the room, "so I'm beat."

Amy nodded, then stood for a second chewing her lip. Haley watched her face, she looked like she was looking for the right words. After a few seconds, she huffed out a sigh. "You told her? Haley, you aren't supposed to tell anyone." She looked more hurt than angry.

"I uh, I didn't tell her. She knew."

"She knew? You knew?" Both Haley and Amy looked at Joanne. Under scrutiny, she lost the deer in headlights look and took on one that was more defiant, hand on hip and full of the sassiness Haley had come to know.

"Duh. Like, everyone knows. You can't just pluck top gymnasts out of training—out of the race for Olympic Gold and expect the five girls under her to not ask questions. You can't send a twelve-year-old to training, fail her, send her back to her other life with girls who are like, 200% not happy that she stopped training for six weeks and still gets just as much time on vault rotation and expect her not to explain where the hell she went. You may face bad guys, honey, but you've never faced a pissed off gymnast." Joanne wore her proud look like a suit of armour. Haley tried to hide her pride.

Amy looked between them.

"Haley, can I speak to you alone for a minute? Out in the hallway?"

Haley nodded, looked quickly at Joanne and followed her team-leader out into the hallway. Outside the door, she leaned against the wall and waited for Amy to start.

"Look, we have no problem with your… girlfriend co—"

"What?" Haley half-barked, half-laughed, "No. She's just my friend. If that."

"Oh. Okay," her face softened, "we have no problem with her being here. But she cannot go around telling people about D.E.B.S. It's very important to the safety of our agents that we remain a secret. "

"Joanne is not a problem. She's just pissed you guys didn't pick her. You know, for her superior intellect. She'll be okay. I'll talk to her."

Amy gave her a gentle smile then, reached out and touched her arm. "I trust you." She turned and walked to her room.


	4. Chapter 4

Max was in the middle of her daily cardio when the call came through, direct to her cell. The team was needed down at the Academy, minus Amy and Haley. Max made her way across the hall, lightly knocking on Amy's door. When no response came, she dipped past the door, surveying the room. It was empty. She knew Amy and Haley had taken to going on evening runs after training and lessons to unwind. It afforded Max and the girls an opportunity to slip out without their knowledge. She called Janet, and hailed Dominque from her room, beckoning them both toward her car in the garage.

"We're needed at the Academy. New assignment, I'm guessing." Max tried to sound authoritative. Both teammates nodded in response, and the three filed into to the car.

Mr Phipps was waiting for them when they arrived at the Academy.

"Ladies," he nodded.

The three girls nodded in response.

Mr Phipps, assuming the tone of the team, pursed his lips and turned his large body toward the screens now hovering in front of the booth and pressed a button on the small remote he was holding.

The blue screen was suddenly filled with pictures of a thin woman with large almond-shaped brown eyes and dark hair. Credentials, much like the ones they had seen bearing Haley's name just a few weeks earlier, filled the opposing screens. Mr Phipps cleared his throat, "I'll get right to it. I believe you are familiar with this target."

"Lucy's returned to the game, huh?" Janet asked, leaning forward and resting her chin on her upturned hand. She watched the screen carefully. Mr Phipps pressed his remote control one more time and another row of pictures appeared, bearing the faces of several men, the foremost of which was a skinny, blonde man. Janet let out a squeak. Dominque raised a skeptical eyebrow and sighed, "avec sa... associates."

"Rumoured. Rumoured associates. No charges have ever been filed." Janet's voice was pinched and strained.

After flicking her a brief look, Max turned to Phipps, arms crossed beneath her chest.

"So, you want us to go back out after Diamond?"

"Lucy Diamond is active again, meaning she's once more a threat… despite the fact that this agency was assured as to her 'inactive' status.

"Let's just say she isn't handling the break up well." Max tried to fight the grin that pushed at her lips, but she knew it was useless.

She was glad Amy wasn't there. Despite the fact that they had broken up a little over a month before, Amy hadn't seemed herself for a while. Her excitement over Haley was the most animated she'd been since she'd been with Lucy.

"This is why Ms Bradshaw was not to be a part of this meeting. We felt that there may be too much of a… Bad taste left after their decision to part ways. We felt she could not adequately analyse the situation."

"So, what is the situation?"

"Lucy Diamond is up to her old tricks, ladies. She is starting small this time, knocking over small banks with uninsured savings, but we predict she will be elevating soon. We believe she is saving money to build a weapon which will actually accomplish her life's goal: destroying Australia. We obviously cannot stress enough the damage this would do."

The D.E.B.S. nod.

"As of now, this is a recon assignment."

Max stepped forward, examining the information on the screens in front of her. "So, you want us to just watch from a distance, see if she makes any big moves?"

Mr Phipps smiled, lowering his head to look at his shoes. "Um, it seems there has been some miscommunication. It won't be you D.E.B.S. that are looking after this reconnaissance. It will be your new recruit."

"So you want Haley to take on Lucy Diamond as her first assignment? That's a little serious, don't you think?" Janet sounded a little frightened, and turned toward Max with an expectant look on her face.

"Oui. I agree. She is strong, but green, non?" Dominque looked at her co-captain, arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.

"We're not asking her to take her down single-handedly. We're just asking her to stake out some of her old haunts, tail her. Give us the opportunity to put a plan in place to capture her. These people, these are Ms Graham's people. Skaters; bikers; miscreants; criminals. She'll be right at home." Mr Phipps noted.

Trying to hide the amusement in her voice, Max leaned against the control-panel and mewled, "Exactly. Don't tell me you guys think the somersaulting wonder-child isn't capable of a little sleuthing?"

"When were you going to tell me Haley was tailing Lucy?" Amy was angry. Max knew she would be, but Phipps had sworn the three agents to secrecy. She had maintained she would stay strong, but watching her co-captain and best friend stare her down, disappointment and hurt etched on her gentle features, Max felt her resolve cracking.

"Phipps asked us not to tell you. We didn't know how you'd react… after everything. How did you find out?"

"Haley. She came to me for advice." Amy flopped down on Max's bed, her forearm covering her eyes, "I didn't know what to tell her, Max. Nefarious criminal? Charming devil? Rose to the top of a notorious crime family? Has a smile that can make the world shift on its axis? She's dynamite in bed but she can't give up her criminal life, for money or for… for love?" Max heard Amy swallow the lump in her throat.

"We tell her what the dossier tells: her criminal record, what she's capable of. Your history, that doesn't matter. Not to us and not to Haley." Max moved to sit beside her friend, laying her hand gently on her knee. "What happened last year, let's forget it. Okay? Let's just look at Lucy like any other case. Someone to be stopped." Amy groaned in response. "And let's look at Haley like any other rookie. She needs her first mission. A tailing assignment is perfect, and a big target might be necessary if she wants to join _this_ team. So we treat her like any other agent trying to earn their stripes."

Amy slid the arms from her face, looked at Max, and cringed.

"I don't know if I can, Max. I don't know how much I can push my feelings to the back of my mind."

Max grinned.

"Do you mean Lucy, or Haley?"


End file.
